heptane.jpgheptanesdf.gif


Name

Formula:

C7H16

Properties:

Appearance: colorless liquid with gasoline like odor
Molar Mass:100.21 g/mol
Melting Point: -91°C
Boiling Point: 98°C
Denisty: 684.00 kg/m³

Uses:

Heptane and its nine isomers are widely used as a non-polar solvent. It can also be used in the process of grease spot tests. It helps dissolve the oil spots, so you can see if there were previous compounds. This can be achieved by shaking the paper in the heptane solution. Heptane can be you in the extraction process of different substances. One example would be with bromine and iodine. When in water, the two both appear brown, but when in water, iodine turns purple and the bromine remains brown. Heptane is commercially sold as mixed isomers in paints and coatings like rubber cement solvent. You can also purchase outdoor stove fuel containing heptane. It is commonly used to determine octane ratings.An octane rating is a standard measure of performance of a motor. A one hundred percent heptane fuel is a zero on this scale.

Reaction Tendencies:

You would not want heptane to be mixed with gasoline. It will burn explosively and cause engine knocking.There would be better performance from things that burn more slowly.

How Is It Obtained?

Heptane is comes from crude oil, or petroleum. Petroleum is a yellow-to-black liquid that contains hydrocarbons and organic compounds found beneath the earth's surface. Mostly, petroleum is recovered from oil drilling. At its boiling point, it is refined and separated to make many products like gasoline, kerosene, and asphalt.

History:

Around 4000 years ago, they discovered petroleum along river banks. It was said to be used during the construction of walls and towers. Years later, in 1847, James Young saw a nature petroleum oil seepage. From this he would two different types of oils, a very light one, and a thicker one. He eventually came to the conclusion that with a slow distillation, a number of different liquids could be derived from it, one of which being heptane. The word 'petroleum' itself was commonly used to describe mineral oils found from distillation.

Structure:

Heptane is a straight-chained Alkane. Alkanes consist only of carbon and hydrogen atoms held together by single bonds.

Percent Composition:

Composition by Mass
Element
Mass
Percent Composition
Carbon
12.011 X 7= 84.077
83.9%
Hydrogen
1.0079 X 16= 16.1264
16.09%
Composition by Number
Element
Number
Percent Composition
Carbon
7
30.4%
Hydrogen
16
69.5%

3D Model:



Inserting a Chime file:

For Windows:

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<embed src="http://cornellbiochem.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/yourfilename.pdb" align="baseline" border="2" width="160" height="160" display3d="ball&amp;stick" options3d="specular" startspin="true" spiny="180" spinz="180" color3d="cpk" />

For Mac:

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References:

http://www.chemspider.com/Chemical-Structure.8560.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heptane
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crude_oil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkane